Process of recovering precious metals.



J H. REID.

PROCESS OF REGOVEBING PRECIOUS METALS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3. 1909.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

\Illlllllll IHVENI'D-B. JZH REID wrrna'ssss in its Es P TENT OFFICE. I

animus-Hanna"? nan-"120's NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

rnocnss on ear-mama rnEcIoUs METALS.

I I Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Oct. 19,1909.

Application filed February a, 1909. Serial No. 475,907.

To all whom 'it may concern."-

Be it known that I, JAMES HENRY Rnii),

of Newark, in the State of New Jersey,

United States of America, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes of Recovering Precious Metals, of which thefollowing is a specification.

' My invention relates to ,an improved proc ess for recovering preciousmetals, an'd the objects of my invention are to provide a simple andeffective process for recovering precious metals, such as silver, froman ore;

containing'the. said metal with baser metals,

such as cobalt and nickel, and to provide such a process as will enablethe operation tobe carried out in a continuous process, in which themetal will be ultimately recovered being escribed in detail, in theaccompanying specification and drawings.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the apparatusemployed in carrying out the process. Fig. 2 1s a sectionf the process,an ore containmg si ver, nickel and cobalt may be 'ven: as an example.This ore is first commmuted, and then mixed with aflux which may consistof lead silica and borax. Where there is an cess in the ore, theaddition 0 carbon may be made to take this up. This ground mixture isthen fed into the hopper 10 of the first chamber A, which has electrodes11 therein, producin a central are through which the ore wi pass, thebottom of the .chamber bein 1 provided with a settling tank 12 in whicht e molten mixture will collect.

The structure of this furnace is unimportant.

to the present invention, but the type illustrated is that disclosed inmy United States Patent No. 910581 dated Jan. 26th, 1909. At the sametime, as the mixture is passing through this are, the interior of thechamber is exhausted through a suitable outlet pipe ure'form, the stepsof the processoxid in ex- 13-. While still molten, the mixture is passedthrough a second chamber B, and in the embodiment illustrated, a trough14 extends from: the settling tank of one chamber,to the hopper 15, onthe next, the chamber B being providedwith electrodes 16 and settlingtank 17 as in the preceding chamber.

If desired, additional amount of flux o'r fluxing material may beintroduced in the hopper. 15', while the molten mixture ispassingtliei'jethrough. The/interior of the chamberB-is also exhaustedthrough a suitable outlet pipe 181 The molten mixture is passed throughas many of these chambers as are deemed necessary-to effect thoroughscorification of the ore and the resultant mixture is finally run into arotary separating tank C, which tank is rotated to eifectseparation bygravity, between the metals. In the embodiment illustrated, this tankconsists of a cylindrical-casing 19 having a lining 20 of refractorymaterial, the interior of the lining being preferably conical andprovided with a tap hole 21 at the bottom and a second tap hole 22, ashort distance up the side, thesecond tap hole bein preferably for theout- .let of the slag, whi e the last one 21 is for the withdrawal ofthe precious metal. This casing is supported'by rollers 23 fromv asuitable track 24 carried on a truck 25, the

said truck also carrying an electric motor 26,

which has a pinion 27 on the shaft thereof,

which 'meshes with an annular gear 28 on the underside of the tank, thesurface of the tank being exhausted through a suitable conductin p1pe 29 communicating with the top thereofi it-h the ore given as an example,the

' molten mixture --collecting inthe separating tank will probablyconsist of nickel, cobalt,

silver and lead silicate com ound. The tank is then rotated and thesllver havingthe greatest specific gravity will settle to the bottom andmay be withdrawn through the lowest tap 'hole. The 1 slag will containnickel, cobalt and lead silicate, and these may afterward be separatedin any known manner.

. What I claim as my invention is 1. The herein-described method ofrecovering precious metals from an ore containing precious metals withbaser metals, which consists in mixing the comminuted ore with a flux;then passing the mixture through an electric arc, while exhausting thevolatile products, and then rotating the molten mass of metal and fluxto effect separation by to effect separation between the silver and 10gravity between them. i the remaining metals.

2. The herein-described method; of recov- In witness whereof I havehereunto set my ering silver from an ore containing silver hand in thepresence of two witnesses. with nickel and cobalt which consists inmixing the 'comminuted ore with lead and a JAMhb HLLRl REID flux; thenpassing the mixture through an Witnesses: electric arc while exhaustingthe volatile RUsssn S. SMART,

products, and then rotating the molten mass \VM. A. VVYMAN.'

